Big Red Shootout–Cornell receiver Grant Gellatly dives into the endzone for a touchdown in the first quarter against Columbia Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field. The Big Red’s 62-41 victory over Columbia was its highest point total since 1936. (Photo by Patrick Shanahan)
Published on November 12, 2011
It might have been Senior Day for the Cornell football team Saturday, but it was the performance of an underclassman that paved the way for the Big Red’s fourth win on the year.
Sophomore quarterback Jeff Mathews set a Cornell single-game record with 521 passing yards and five touchdowns on 40 of 46 pass attempts, single-handedly carrying the offense on his shoulders in a 62-41 shootout over Columbia Saturday afternoon at Schoellkopf Field.
Mathews’ 521 yards was just five yards short of the Ivy League single-game record set by Brown’s Michael Daugherty in 2008.
According to Big Red head coach Kent Austin, Mathews’ performance may have stood out, but it was a collective team effort that was indicative of the win.
“Jeff’s a really good player,” Austin said laughing. “ But he’s got good players around him. It always takes 11 for anyone to perform. But Jeff is just as accurate and had as good a decision-making day as any quarterback that I have been around in a long time.”
The 62 points the Big Red (4-5, 2-4 Ivy League) put up on the Lions (0-9, 0-6) was also a modern-day record for the program, breaking the previous mark of 57 points in a win over Georgetown in 2005. The last time the Big Red scored at least 60 points in a game was when they scored 74 in 1936.
But the way things started for the Big Red, it was appearing to be a long afternoon.
The Big Red appeared to have the Lions headed to a three-and-out on their first drive, but a roughing the punter penalty kept the Lions offense on the field. 10 players later, the Lions got on the board off a four-yard run from Griffin Lowry to give the Lions an early 7-0 lead.
However, the Big Red bounced back less than three minutes later, tying the game at seven just before the end of the first quarter on a two-yard reverse from Luke Tasker.
The teams fought neck and neck through the first half, with the Lions scoring just before the half to take a 34-28 lead at the break.
The second half was a different story, as the Big Red defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs and scored 17 unanswered to take 45-34 lead after three quarters, outscoring the Lions 34-7 in the second half to break the game open.
“You don’t know how a game is going to play out,” said Austin. “The best laid plans most of the time get thrown out in the first quarter because everybody has a different game plan and you start making adjustments and they start making their adjustments. It just starts turning out the way it turns out and there’s no way to predict it.”
The always-modest Mathews attributed his passing success to the game plan and his receivers’ ability to find holes in the defense.
“Honestly we have receivers in our offense that get a lot of freedom to get open and when those guys are getting open it’s pretty easy to put the ball in,” said Mathews. “We have some pretty good outside receivers so it’s a lot of fun.”
Recently coined the Empire State Bowl in 2010, the Big Red earned there first win in what had been the unofficial nickname of the series for many years.
For Mathews, it was more about getting seniors like receiver Shane Savage and tight end Ryan Houska a win in their final home game, and first against Columbia.
“It means a lot because you want to remember Cornell the right way and you always tend to remember how you finish,” he said. “So for those (seniors), they finish like this and get a big win (against Columbia).”
At 4-5, the Big Red have already doubled their season win total from all of last year, and look to finish out the season at .500 for the first time since 2007 when they play at Penn next Saturday, Nov. 19.
Despite the Big Red saying goodbye to 23 seniors following next Saturday, Austin believes the seniors will have a lasting impact on the program.
“I’m really privileged to coach a great group of guys and we have had really good senior leadership this year,” he said.
“And some of the culture that they’ve helped to establish and the things that they have adopted from our vision as a coaching staff, (what) they’ve been able to implement in the locker room or away from football with our team, they’ve just made an outstanding effort in that regard…they’re all great young men and they all have great futures.”